


Repairs

by EscapingArtist



Series: Architecture of Life [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Australia, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Good Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, M/M, Memory Charms, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2020-10-11 05:09:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20540627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EscapingArtist/pseuds/EscapingArtist
Summary: She had planned to be gone for two weeks, which is why the sudden shudder of her magic and the crack of her apparition through the wards three days later made him jump. He raced into the living room, barely catching her before she fell into a sobbing tangled heap He cradled her, pouring words into her ear as she cried and between her gasps piecing the story together. She had found them, tried to reverse the spell, but it was too tangled, too embedded in their minds to do quickly. She had tried but finally gave up, afraid she would do too much damage.He had thought the sobs had broken his heart, but they were nothing to the resigned sadness that came after. Her refusal to talk about it. Her clipped cheerfulness and her insistence that she was “Fine, just fine.”But she wasn't fine, and Draco couldn't let it stay that way





	1. Facing Facts

**Author's Note:**

> I thought I was done with those Unspeakables and then this came into my head! I'm trying something new writing from Draco's POV. Also it may be updated weekly vs. more often because my schedule is busier. Your comments are always loved and welcomed and I'm eager to know your thoughts

She sat at her desk, absently twisting her ring one way and then the other. Draco glanced up, watching her over the pile of parchment he was reading. Her shoulders were tight and she seemed to be curling in on herself, like she wanted to not be noticed…to disappear. She sighed heavily and looked up, catching his eye. She smiled, slightly forced and not reaching all the way to her eyes, and sent three little pulses of magic through the thread connecting them. It was their own secret signal to say “I love you” and he sent pulses back and winked.

She got up and stretched, rubbing the knot in her neck. Draco couldn’t help but stare as the shirt pulled tight across her chest and she moaned slightly as the muscles loosened. He looked down quickly, staring fixedly at the papers on his desk and willed his body to behave. “I’m going to the lab” she said from the doorway “Come get me when it is time to go home?” He nodded and she blew him a kiss before vanishing.

As soon as she was out of sigh he opened the bottom drawer of his desk and began sifting through a stack of papers. Finding the one he wanted he leaned back, drumming his fingers on the desk. It was risky, if he got caught…the thought drifted off unfinished. Was it worth it? He thought about her, thought about her eyes, the way she was going through the motions with the smile never reaching them. No one could live like that forever. Pinching the bridge of his nose he moved the jar of blue flame to the center of his desk.

This was another Hermione invention, like a floo version of a cell phone. Simply drop floo powder into the jar and you could make your call, it was much more comfortable then kneeling in front of a fireplace. He took a deep breath and dropped in the powder. Almost immediately Potter’s tousled head appeared, slightly distorted by the curve of the glass. “Malfoy? Is everything alright?” He sounded worried and Draco couldn’t blame him, they didn’t exactly call to gossip regularly.

“Everyone is safe” Draco reassured him “Do you have time to talk?”

Harry glanced down then nodded “Yeah, I have an hour before my next thing. Meet at the café?” Draco nodded curtly and pushed the glass away. He pulled on his robes and headed out, almost bumping into Theo.

“Are you headed down to the labs?” Draco asked and Theo nodded “Can you tell Hermione I’m going for an hour but will be back to floo home with her?”

“Sure thing” Theo said cheerfully and Draco nodded his thanks and headed out. As he walked quickly down the street toward the café his thoughts drifted back to three weeks ago, when this whole damn thing had started.

_“I’m going to Australia” she announced and bounced up and down in excitement. _

_Draco’s heart stuttered but he tried to stay calm. “Oh?” He inquired and she nodded decisively_

_“I’m going to marry you” she said with a smile, lingering over the words “and I want my parents to be there.” Draco inhaled sharply, he knew she had been debating since the end of the war with whether she should try and restore her parent’s memories. Her guilt and her fear and her eagerness all washing over her in turns. She continued, her face glowing “I’m going to find them and try to reverse the spell. I’ve got a Portkey scheduled for tomorrow. Before you ask, I’m doing this myself. I need to, for them and for me.” _

_He had tried to argue, but she wouldn’t budge and he knew better then to try and force it. So, the next morning he walked her to the Portkey office and kissed her goodbye, putting on a much more confident face then he felt. Only after she whirled out of sight did the mask crumble and the worry show through. His skill with Occulmency had taught him a lot about how memories worked, and he had also seen minds that had been obliviated. He knew she was talented, which actually might be part of the problem. A spell as strong as she had made would be hard to undo. _

_She had planned to be gone for two weeks, which is why the sudden shudder of her magic and the crack of her apparition through the wards three days later made him jump. He raced into the living room, barely catching her before she fell into a sobbing tangled heap He cradled her, pouring words into her ear as she cried and between her gasps piecing the story together. She had found them, tried to reverse the spell, but it was too tangled, too embedded in their minds to do quickly. She had tried but finally gave up, afraid she would do too much damage. _

_He had thought the sobs had broken his heart, but they were nothing to the resigned sadness that came after. Her refusal to talk about it. Her clipped cheerfulness and her insistence that she was “Fine, just fine.”_

Shaking his head to clear the memory he slid into the chair. Green eyes met gray as Harry eyed him over a teacup “What did you do” he asked finally and Draco looked slightly affronted

“What do you mean, what did I do?” he snapped back and Harry grinned

“I just assumed if you were asking for my help then you must have gotten yourself pretty deep into a hole.” Harry said with a shrug and Draco rolled his eyes. Pausing for a moment to order from the waitress before turning back to man across the table.

“I’ll have you know Potter that this has nothing to do with me and everything to do with Hermione.” Draco fiddled with the napkin in front of him and the insecurity radiating off of him made Harry soften slightly.

“Alright, I believe you” he said “So what’s up? What can the Chosen One do for you today?”

Draco huffed a laugh and leaned back in his chair “Did Hermione tell you anything about what her plans were a few weeks ago.”

Harry regarded him cautiously “You mean Australia” he said finally and Draco nodded “She told me she was going, that she was going to try to reverse the spell on her parents. She asked me not to tell anyone else, not even Ginny.”

“Well she’s back” Draco said flatly

Harry looked confused and set down his cup with a clack “Wait, that can’t be right, she was going to stay a few weeks, she said not to worry that she’d get in touch when she got back”

Draco nodded his thanks as the waitress brought his tea and carefully stirred honey into it “She came back after three days” he said quietly

“Shit” Harry muttered, running his hands through his messy black hair “Three days” he repeated “I’m guessing…”

“She was a mess” Draco said emphatically “Cried for hours. But what’s worse is that now she isn’t crying. Now she claims she is fine. She won’t talk about it, just smiles a tight little smile and promises me everything is alright.”

“Which clearly it is not” Harry finished for him and Draco nodded “Ok, well, shit” he said again pushing up his glasses and rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands “What are you hoping I can do? Talk to her?”

Draco toyed with the teacup and finally looked Harry straight in the eye “I want to try to do it” he said bluntly “I want to see if I can reverse the spell.” Harry looked shocked and took a long sip from his mug, giving himself time to think.

“Ok” he said slowly “So, once again, what do you need me for?”

Draco threw up his hands in frustration “I need you to tell me if this is a good idea” he snapped “I want to fix this. I want to make this better. I need to, she is hurting and this is the only thing I can think of to do.”

“But” Harry prompted and Draco growled with frustration

“If I can do it, I don’t feel like I should without her knowing for Merlin’s sake, they are HER parents. But if I can’t I don’t want to get her hopes up just to break her heart again.” Draco dropped his head in his hands and muttered mostly to herself “I can’t be the one to cause her more pain.”

Harry looked at him thoughtfully “What makes you think you can undo something that Hermione Granger couldn’t? I know you are smart Draco but she is SCARY smart.”

Draco gave a half smile and pulled out the paper he’d been hiding in his desk “I know you were shit at Occulmency and Legilimency Harry but not all of us are that bad. It is more than shielding your mind or diving headfirst into someone else’s, it is compartmentalizing memories and being able to recognize what is there and what is missing. Living with Voldemort made me learn fast how to do both.”

Harry grimaced at the thought of why Draco would need to be a fast learner “Also” Draco continued “Now that I know more about how magic works, how the spells come together, I feel like I could combine the two to pick apart a spell….like we did with the Castle’s magic.” He slid the paper to Harry who scanned it quickly “I’ve been exchanging owls with a doctor in Australia” he continued “Who has been doing some research on residual spell magic, mostly in terms of jinxes and curses but the same principles might apply here.”

Harry gave the paper back to Draco and sat, lost in thought. Draco stilled his mind and body and sipped his tea, willing himself to remain calm. Finally, Harry refocused and looked at him “You can’t do it without her permission” he said firmly and Draco’s heart fell, he didn’t think that he could approach her with little more then a whiff of a theory “But” Harry held up a finger “You can get farther then this. Figure out if it is possible, or at least as close as you can get. Then, if you really think you can you talk to her.”

Draco exhaled and nodded at Harry “Thank you” he said tentatively “That’s what I thought too but I didn’t trust myself. My, I, well, this was too important to get wrong.”

Harry threw down some coins and stood, extending a hand to Draco “She is lucky to have you” he said sincerely “I’m glad you love her like you do.” Draco shook Harry’s hand, at a loss for how to respond, and headed back to Declaration to retrieve Hermione.


	2. No Apology Needed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hermione has some serious insecurities in this chapter. It was a little hard to write I'll be honest because some got a little too close to home

She was waiting for him, looking a little puzzled when he appeared from outside “Where were you?” she asked, leaning in to give him a kiss.

Draco waved a hand dismissively “One last meeting” he sighed “But, I’m ready to go home if you are.” She nodded but her brow was still creased and Draco knew she wasn’t satisfied with that answer. Before she could ask anything else he stepped through the floo and into their apartment. Busying himself in the kitchen he announced that he was making dinner tonight, which brought a small smile to Hermione’s face. He knew that she still doubted his ability to cook but he was at learning, slowly but surely.

She sat on a stool and watched as he chopped and stirred, before clearing her throat. “Your mother owled me today” she said carefully and Draco paused mid slice. What was his mother doing? He knew from Hermione’s face it wasn’t just a “how have you been” letter. “She wanted to know when we could meet to talk about the wedding.” She continued, schooling her face carefully to hide what she was really feeling.

“Oh” Draco said neutrally “And what did you say”

“I didn’t respond yet” Hermione admitted “I, uh, realized we hadn’t really talked about it in….a while” Since she had gotten back from Australia was the unspoken end to that sentence. “I’m right in the middle of a development cycle with the new batch of charms and I just, uh, really want to focus on that for a while.”

Draco leaned over and kissed her forehead “I’ll tell Mother” he said reassuringly “I’ll ask her not to bring it up again until we say we are ready.” Hermione smiled gratefully and the conversation drifted to what she and Theo had been doing in the lab that day.

**

Sliding under the covers, Draco curled up around Hermione and kissed down her neck to her bare shoulders. He felt her tense slightly and immediately pulled back. “I’m sorry” she blurted out and he half sat up, confused.

“Why are you sorry love?” he asked and he heard her choke out a little sob

“I’m sorry” she said again “I do love you, it isn’t that, I don’t want you to think that because I say no sometimes that I don’t love you or that I don’t want to do stuff. I’m just really feeling tired tonight and just want to snuggle and sleep. But I do love you, really truly and I love kissing you and all but just….Ugh I’m rambling” she said and her voice trailed off. Draco looked down at his witch and wanted more then anything to make this hurt go away.

“Hey” he said softly “If you don’t feel like doing anything tonight that is ok. Your allowed to not want to simply because you don’t want to.” He chuckled “My ego may seem fragile at times but I didn’t think I was that bad.”

She laughed, the sound muffled from where she had her head buried in the pillow. Draco lay back down and carefully wrapped his arm around her. He ran his hand up and down her arm until her breathing had steadied and she had fallen asleep. Once he was sure she was asleep he eased himself out of bed. Pulling two pieces of parchment towards him he wrote out notes and whistled quietly for the building owl. She swooped in and he attached the letters to her leg. Ruffling her feathers slightly he thanked her and went back into bed.


	3. Making Plans

The workday was almost finished when the floo roared to life and Ginny came tumbling out. “Hermione!” she yelled and the brunette poked her head out of her office “We are going out” Ginny announced and Draco smiled as he heard the string of excuses from Hermione being individually shot down by Ginny. “Get your coat” the redhead announced firmly “Lover boy will be able to take care of himself for one evening.” Hermione blushed bright pink at the innuendo and Ginny laughed. She bustled Hermione towards the floo, turning to wink at Draco. He mouthed “thank you” to her and she nodded before pushing her friend through the green flames.

Draco immediately gathered his things, throwing them haphazardly into his case and made for the door. Blaise blocked his way, looking at Draco suspiciously. “Big plans?” Blaise asked innocently “I mean I heard Red come through and gather Hermione so I figured your evening must have opened up.” Draco paused, not sure how to answer. Blaise stepped back and gestured “But if you have somewhere, or someone, you need to get to, by all means.”

Draco’s jaw tightened and his eyes flashed dangerously at Blaise “What are you implying” he said, stepping closer and meeting his eyes.

Blaise held his gaze “You’ve been distracted” he said simply “You slipped out of the office the other day for a ‘meeting’ that no one knew about. You’ve been pulling things out of your bottom drawer and reading them before locking them away again. Plus, Hermione has been barely a shell of herself. So, you tell me friend, what am I implying.”

Draco stepped back, all the anger ebbing out of him. He could see what it must have looked like from the outside, maybe not to a casual observer but Blaise was like family and knew Draco better then anyone. He gripped his friend’s arm tightly “Hermione is it for me” he said sincerely “She is sad, but it isn’t my doing. In fact, I’m working like hell to fix it.” Blaise eyed him cautiously but nodded “It isn’t my story to tell, not yet. I need to get a few things together and then I may come to you for help. Until then, trust me ok?”

Blaise looked relieved “Of course” he said “You’ve never been that type. I know you are loyal almost to a fault. I just, I wanted to protect her.”

Draco smiled sadly “Me too mate. I promise. I’ll tell you everything soon.” Blaise nodded and Draco turned to go.

Arriving back at the quiet apartment, Draco immediately spread his papers out on the kitchen table. Summoning a few books he began scratching out his theories and how he wanted to proceed. He knew that undoing the memory charm wasn’t going to be as easy as brushing past the Granger's and muttering the counter spell. He would need to figure out a way to get closer to them and be able to have access to their minds for an extended period of time. IF this would even work at all in the first place he reminded himself.

He was startled by the tapping of an owl and threw open the window to retrieve the letter. The doctor in Australia had written back, expressing an interest in talking and going over possibilities. She suggested a time for a floo call and Draco did the mental calculations. It would mean staying late at work tomorrow, could he do that without rousing suspicion? He’d already called on Ginny to get Hermione out one night….what could he do the next night? It was Friday so maybe he could convince everyone to meet up at the Leaky and he could just arrive a bit late. He dashed off a couple of notes and gave them to the owl before turning back to his research.

**

He heard the creak of the door and quickly hid the papers on his desk and flicked his wand to return the books to their shelf. Hermione slipped in carefully and jumped slightly when she saw him “Your still up!” she said, crossing to kiss him on the cheek

“I am” he said with a smile “Did you have fun with Red?”

She gave him the first genuine smile he’d seen in a while “I did. Heard all the gossip about the Harpies and how the rest of the Weasley’s have been doing.” Draco smiled to himself, he knew that if anyone could help Hermione relax, it was Ginny.

“Glad to hear it. I’ll admit I was a bit jealous so I owled around to see if anyone wants to meet at the Leaky tomorrow after work. Hope that is ok.”

Hermione had opened her mouth to reply when an owl tapped at the window. Draco hurried over and took the letters from it and glanced through them quickly. The one from the Australian doctor confirming the call was tucked in his pocket and he turned, brandishing the rest “And here are their replies!” he announced, sifting through and handing the pile to her. Her glance fell to his pocket and she opened her mouth, then shut it again. “I’m just going to pretend I didn’t notice that”, Draco thought to himself and went into the other room to hide the parchment before heading to bed.

**

Draco barely looked up from his desk on Friday, he was in the midst of some delicate negotiations and really wanted to wrap things up before the weekend. At 5pm, Hermione came by his office, smiling at his frazzled appearance. “Alright you, it is quitting time” she chided and he looked up with an apologetic smile.

“I’m coming. I just have a few things to finish first. Go on without me, yeah?” She hesitated but then Theo and Blaise came up behind her and tucked their arms in hers

“We’ll take care of her Draco” Blaise said with a wink

“Oh that is comforting” Draco snarked back but sent her three little pulses of magic and a soft smile.

When he heard the door shut he re-set the wards and knelt in front of the fireplace. Hermione’s invention was brilliant, but for international calls the fireplace still had the best call quality. Soon, the flames went green and the face of Dr. Alexa Hernandez came into focus. “Dr. Hernandez” Draco said gratefully “Thank you for taking my call.”

She laughed “Please, call me Alexa. I’ll admit that I am very intrigued by the bits that you’ve let drop so far.”

Draco ran his hands through his hair and loosened his tie slightly “Before I go further, I, just want to make sure that you are comfortable working with me. I know that the Malfoy name is not one that many want to associate with still.”

She tilted her head and regarded him silently “I’ll admit, it gave me pause at first” she conceded “But I read up on what you’ve been doing…with Declaration and the advances you’ve been making. I’m especially interested in the work you’ve done to support Squibs. I can tell you’ve been trying hard to distance yourself from your families’ mistakes.”

Draco relaxed slightly, relieved that she was willing to hear him out. “Thank you” he said sincerely “That means a lot to me.” He took a deep breath “I know you are a professional but I just want to ask for the record that anything we talk about will be confidential.”

She nodded gravely “I take patient confidentiality very seriously”

“Ok” he affirmed “Well, then how much do you know about Hermione Granger?”

Alexa wrinkled her brow slightly “I know she is a war heroine, muggle-born, above average intelligence and superior spell casting. Many of the healing spells that she worked up during the war are being incorporated into routine medical care.” Draco hadn’t heard that, but he wasn’t surprised. Alexa continued “I also know, ah, that you two are seeing each other at least according to the papers.”

Draco grinned “She is my fiancé” he said proudly

“Congratulations” Alexa said, with a twinkle in her eyes “But surely you didn’t seek me out to boast about Hermione Granger?”

Draco barked a laugh “No, although I take pretty much any chance I can to boast about her. “ he admitted and Alexa smiled. “During the war, Hermione feared that her parents would become targets of Voldemort’s supporters. To protect them she crafted an intricate memory modification spell, one that completely removed herself from their memories and gave them the idea that their names were Wendell and Monica Wilkins and they had always dreamed of moving to Australia.”

“And it worked?” Alexa asked in surprise “Something that elaborate, with so many loose ends to tie up, is incredibly difficult to pull off.”

“It worked” Draco confirmed “Too well, when she went back to lift the memory spell a few weeks ago she found that the modifications had been embedded too deeply and couldn’t be lifted with the standard reversal. Since she had no way to get them to sit down and stay still for however long it might take to figure it out she had to give up. She now thinks that it is a lost cause.”

“But you don’t” Alexa said knowingly and Draco shook his head

“I have some…skill…in Occulmency and Legilimency and through my research into the underpinnings of magic I think that combining the two could undo the spell. My theory is that with time someone who could see into the mind and see the strands of magic could untangle them and then remove the spell.”

Alexa was nodding and jotting down notes “But you don’t know what to look for in terms of effect on the brain” she guessed “So you’d want to work with me so that I could monitor and make sure the brain wasn’t being damaged.”

Draco nodded “Yes, plus I was hoping you had some ideas for how we could actually get them in a room long enough to perform the work needed. Outside of kidnapping them” he smiled crookedly “I’ve come up a bit short.”

Alexa snorted slightly “Yes, that might be less then ideal” she agreed “So, what does Ms. Granger say about all of this?”

Draco shifted uncomfortably “I haven’t told her yet” he confessed and Alexa raised one eyebrow at him. “I want to see if this is even possible first’ he added “To get to the point where we are one step away from success and then ask her if she’d like to finalize the procedure.” Alexa looked skeptical and he held up his hands “I know, I know, it is dicey, but I have no idea if this is even going to work and I can’t put her through this if it doesn’t.”

Alexa tapped her quill thoughtfully “But we won’t go through the full procedure without her full cooperation?”

“Definitely not” Draco assured her “And regardless of what occurs this can be valuable research in the science behind memory modification.”

“Let me think about it” Alexa said finally “I’ll send you an owl by the end of the week with my answer.”

“Thank you” Draco said sincerely “I appreciate you even listening to me.”

Alexa nodded and wished him a good day. Draco stood up, rubbing his aching knees. More time had passed then he had planned on and he had to hurry to meet everyone. He threw on his robe and took the stairs two at a time.

**

Hermione had been watching the door, every time it creaked open she jumped, like she expected Draco to stride in. All the while she smiled distractedly at Ginny’s stories and nodded along with what everyone was saying. Everyone cheered when Neville walked in clutching Hannah’s hand and they immediately besieged him with questions about his studies and how Hogwarts was faring.

Draco saw her as soon as he entered, and he walked over quickly and slipped an arm around her waist. She looked up at him startled and he smiled reassuringly at her “Hey” she said softly “What took you so long.”

Draco sighed “Just got caught up in everything” he wouldn’t lie to her but he was not above keeping things as vague as possible. Her eyes flickered down to his shoulder

“Did you floo here?” She asked and his forehead creased

“No” he answered “I walked over, wanted to stretch my legs a bit.” She bit her lip and nodded, brushing something off of his shirt. He looked down to see a small smudge of ash and cursed inwardly. He was saved from answering when the door opened again and Ginny let out a shriek of “LUNA!” The Unspeakables mobbed their friend, who stood blushing slightly with the attention.

“Hello. I’ve missed you all so much” she said and her voice caught a little. Coming in behind her was a rather fierce looking woman. Her hair was coiled around her head and tattoos rippled and moved down her arms. Draco had seen Charlie’s magical tattoos but these were even more eye-catching, he could see Hippogriffs and Gryphons and Nifflers among other fantastic creatures. “Oh” Luna laughed “And this is Rowena Scamander. Rowena…this is everyone.”

Rowena smiled pleasantly and put her arm around Luna’s shoulder “Hello everyone” she said with a smirk “Luna has talked about you non-stop, I feel like I already know you.”

“Well” Blaise announced “Since we have heard nothing about YOU. I’d like to buy you a drink and get all the gossip on what Lovegood has been up to.” Luna blushed slightly and Rowena kissed her and gave her a wink as she let Blaise lead her to the bar.

Draco saw Hermione’s eyes flicker to Theo, and he followed her gaze. Despite that fact that he and George were mad about each other, it couldn’t be easy seeing Luna for the first time again. Thankfully, she and Theo were hugging and talking animatedly and George had his arm tightly around Theo’s waist, anchoring them together.

Draco watched Hermione covertly throughout the evening, she seemed to be loosening up and actually having a good time. He was pleased that even though it had been a desperation move to cover up the late call it seemed to be working.

When the Leaky finally kicked them out Ginny led them to Grimmauld Place and the party continued. Finally sometime in the 2:00 hour Hermione sent Draco a silent plea and they made their excuses and headed home. She tucked herself under his chin as they side apparated and she smiled sleepily and kissed him goodnight. “Thank you. That was fun.” Draco felt warm and was glad that he at least could do a little something to help her feel better.


	4. Business Travel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Were you happy to see Luna? I had to bring her back at least for a little so you knew she was doing ok :) It has been interesting writing this and trying to figure out how to make it happens without our characters having to be totally unethical or do illegal things. Not easy!

Draco was caught off guard on Wednesday when Theo came in after lunch waving a bulky parchment. . “Owl just dropped this for you” he announced and dropped the missive on Draco’s desk. He and Hermione had been going over production schedules and she looked up startled. Glancing down Draco saw “Dr. Alexa Hernandez” printed on the flap and as calmly as he could slid the letter into his “to do” pile.

“Thanks Theo” he said smoothly “I’ll take a look at it.” He didn’t dare look up at Hermione, he didn’t want to see a question in her eyes that he’d feel he had to answer.

After she left his office he slit open the envelope. Scanning it quickly he felt his pulse quicken. Not only was Alexa willing to work with him but she’d engineered it so that the Grangers were now patients of her office. Her thought was that if they could get them in for a brain scan they’d be able to see what they were working with. To Draco it seemed a little ethically dubious, but without breaking the statute of secrets he really wasn’t sure what other choices they had.

Her final paragraph was a request to come down to Australia at the end of the month so they could do the initial tests. That stumped him, how was he supposed to go down there for any length of time without raising suspicion? Tapping his fingers on the desk he realized it might be finally time to fill in Blaise.

**

Blaise slid into the booth next to Draco and clapped him on the back “It’s been a while since it was just the two of us” he said “To what do I owe the pleasure.” Draco took a deep breath and turned to face his friend

“You are the biggest gossip and flirt I have ever met” Draco began and Blaise made a face “But you are also the most loyal friend and someone I trust completely. What I’m going to tell you has to remain absolutely between the two of us. Not a word to anyone, not even Liam” he said severely and Blaise nodded and crossed his fingers over his heart. Draco ran a hand through his hair and launched into his story.

When Draco finished, Blaise sipped his drink and eyed his friend carefully. “So, you need to get to Australia” he said thoughtfully and Draco nodded “Without raising suspicion and without her coming along.” Draco lay his head in his hands, it sounded pretty hopeless when Blaise phrased it like that.

“Yes” he answered dully, without looking up

“Well” Blaise said in a carefree manner “Then you are in luck.” He pulled out a short letter and pushed it over to Draco “Australia has one of the larger Squib populations in the wizarding world and I’ve recently been conversing with them about charms needed to suit their unique environment.” Draco read over the letter, allowing himself a small smile. “Perhaps it would make sense for us to go there on a strictly business development trip?” he finished delicately and Draco exhaled and nodded. “Good” Blaise said, setting down his glass “I’ll make the arrangements. You get us a portkey for the week after next. How long do you think we’ll need?”

Draco considered “At least a week” he said finally and Blaise nodded

“I think we could do a fortnight without raising suspicion” he said. And Draco nodded. Two weeks would be extremely helpful, since he had no idea what he was stepping into.

“Thank you” he said simply and Blaise squeezed his arm

“Oh and Draco” Blaise added “Let me do the talking on this one alright? No need to make it seem shiftier then it already is.”

**

Hermione was perched on the end of his bed, watching as he packed things into a small suitcase. Her brow was furrowed and she looked like she was biting back a thousand questions. “I still don’t see why they didn’t want at least one of the researchers to come.” She said finally “How will we be sure that you’ve got the full scope of what they want us to work with?”

Draco rolled his eyes and smirked “I know I’m mostly here for my galleons and good looks but I’m not a half bad wizard you know. I think I can handle it.”

“I know” she said with a frown “I just…”

“It’s what Blaise arranged” Draco cut her off and gave a shrug “I just set up the arrangements. I promise if we go back I’ll bring you AND Theo along.” His voice softened and he leaned in to kiss her “I’ll miss you” he said, running his hand through her hair. He saw her hesitate for just a moment before kissing him back. Doubts went running through his head, he knew this was the best option but it killed him to not be totally open with her.


	5. Good News/Bad News

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Having an "off" day so you know what, I'm publishing the last four chapters to finish off this fic. I hope it makes your day a bit better

Their portkey landed in the lobby of the hotel and Blaise got them checked in and steered Draco to his room. He knew that he was running on autopilot, his body going through the motions while his brain was telling him the 110 ways that he was going to fuck this up completely. There was a letter waiting for him from Alexa and he skimmed over it. “She’s got the Grangers coming in for a full brain work-up the day after tomorrow” He told Blaise “She was able to convince them that there were some abnormalities that she wanted to rule out. They’ll be expecting it to be a daylong thing with waiting and preliminary observation etc so I should have time to figure out what this whole situation looks like.”

Blaise eyed him skeptically “You’re just going to…dive into their brains?” He asked and Draco flopped back on the bed, it sounded just as bad said out-loud as it did in his head.

“I don’t know what else to do” he said honestly “I can’t really walk up to them and say “Hello, you think your name is Monica and Wendell but really it isn’t and you have a daughter and she’s a witch. I’d be lucky if they didn’t deck me, and that would be before the Ministry of Magic arrived to arrest me for breaking the statute.”

“True” Blaise conceded “and you are doing this in partnership with a medical doctor so I guess that is as good as the situation can get.”

“What if it doesn’t work?” Draco said quietly, it was a thought he hadn’t even allowed himself “What then?”

“Up to you mate” Blaise responded “I’d say tell her anyway. I know you don’t want her to be waiting through the process to find out if it does or doesn’t, but I think no matter the outcome she has to know.”

Draco groaned and scrubbed his hands over his eyes. His friend was right, he knew it, but part of him just wanted to play the coward and pretend it all had never happened if things didn’t turn out right.

“Well” Blaise said, attempting to be cheerful “Let’s get some dinner and then set up our plans for tomorrow. You should at least come to the initial meetings with the contact here so that you didn’t outright lie.” Draco made a face, he was starting to hate this whole endeavor, and followed his friend out of the room.

**

Draco made his way to Alexa’s office and arrived early for their appointment. He stood, trying to calm himself and get his racing thoughts under control. “Draco” he heard a friendly voice say and he turned to see the doctor approaching. She was much shorter then he had anticipated, barely coming up to his chin, and she looked intelligent and professional.

“Alexa” he answered with a smile “Thank you again”

She waved her hand “Are you kidding. This is fascinating. I’ve done some initial scans and I want to go over those with you before they arrive. This has given me an opportunity to try out some new technology that I’ve been tinkering with. I’ve wanted to see if I could find a way to capture magical residue like a traditional mri or Cat Scan.” Draco wasn’t really sure why a cat would need a scan but he let the doctor continue “And I finally was able to combine some processes so it would show up. Once you are able to get, well, in there for lack of a better term, I’m hoping that you can confirm how accurate my scans are. If they are a good representation of what the brain really looks like then this could be huge for healing.” Draco was pretty sure he followed most of that, but he also didn’t want Alexa to get in the weeds explaining it, so he just nodded and followed her inside.

Sitting in her sterile office he looked through the sheaf of images she handed him “See here” she said pointing “This is the memory center and you can see the neural connections running here to here.” Light gray lines branched out across the page “But here” she added, placing another sheet in front of him “You can see the magical signature overlapping the neural connections. In some points it seems to choke off an existing connection and in others it appears to overwrite it.” The spark of green criss-crossing the page was definitely the color of Hermione’s magic, and he traced it thoughtfully.

“The good news” Alexa continued “Is that since this only had to do with memory it is extremely localized." A wider shot of the brain showed a small portion of the brain laced with green while the rest was gray and clear. “The bad news is that it is well and truly tangled in there.” She finished.

There was silence for a long time as Draco studied the photos. The knots seemed to be corralled within a loop of green magic that cut it off from the rest of the brain. “Do you think” Draco said finally “That if I untied the knots within the loop, but left the final circle, that it would keep the memories at bay?”

“That’s my theory” Alexa agreed “I think that the individual knots are just precautionary and it is really the large loop that is the original memory spell. It looks like what we normally see when someone comes in with memory modification.”

Draco bit his lip, catching himself and thinking of how Hermione always did that. “Do you think I can do this without causing damage to them?” he asked quietly and Alexa considered

“I don’t know” she said finally “I’ve lifted memory modifications before but they are almost always surface level, corralling the brain but not interwoven into the inner workings of it. This is a whole other level.” Draco sighed and pushed the papers aside, it wasn’t worth the risk if he could possibly damage them. But Alexa held up one finger “That being said” she continued “I can monitor while you are working and get you to back out if I think there is risk.”

“When are they supposed to come in?” Draco asked and Alexa consulted her calendar

“I have them scheduled for tomorrow for some blood work and exams and then the scan is scheduled for the day after.” She said.

Draco nodded and considered “Could I sit in on the prelim exams, take a preliminary peek myself and see what I would be working against.”

Alexa smiled, “Sure, you can be my new intern.” She leaned over an intercom and asked her assistant to bring a spare set of scrubs for him. Draco wrinkled his nose at the garments but accepted them with a sigh.

“Now, since we are hoping this is something that can be used again it would really be helpful if we document what you’ve researched and know about so far. That way we can build a case study around it.” Alexa grabbed a notebook and pen and motioned to Draco “Start from the beginning” she said. Draco settled back into the chair and pulled out his notes.


	6. An Attempt

The flames in the hotel room’s fireplace were already green when he fumbled with the door and let himself in. He raced over and threw himself in front of it “Sorry!” He panted as he tried to smile at Hermione “I got caught up. My meeting with Alexa ran over.” He cursed inwardly, hoping she didn’t ask any more questions.

“Isn’t it late there?” she asked

“Uh, yeah” he said quickly “Business dinners, you know. In fact I left Blaise there still wining and dining everyone.” He shrugged as if to say it couldn’t be helped. He could see her frown and plowed ahead quickly, asking how her day was and what she’d been working on. After they said goodbyes he sat back on his heels and sighed heavily, this was getting overly complicated and he just hoped that he would have good news soon.

“I heard you throw me to the wolves” Blaise said with a smirk, as he stepped out of the bathroom in his PJs “Your just lucky I didn’t make an appearance and ruin your whole story.” Draco groaned and threw a pillow at Blaise, he knew his friend was just teasing him but he didn’t like how sordid he made it all sound. Blaise relented and sat down on the bed “Any luck?” he asked and Draco filled him in on the meeting.

**

“Ah, Monica, Wendell, so glad to see you.” Alexa welcomed the pair with a warm smile “You don’t mind if my new intern sits in on the interview, do you?” The pair turned and looked at him and shrugged. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from gasping aloud. Her mother’s hair, her father’s eyes, it was like looking at Hermione deconstructed. He could see all the parts of her in the two of them. “This has to work” he thought to himself before settling back in and unobtrusively dipping into their minds one by one.

When the interview was over, Alexa turned to him with an inquiring look. “Your scans seem to be right on” Draco said and Alexa gave a little fist pump “Obviously I was looking from the inside out since I was in their memories but the path of the magic roping those in seemed consistent.”

“Do you think you’ll be able to untangle it?” She asked with interest

Draco nodded “It is going to take a while” he conceded “There are a lot of little knots and I don’t dare use the more rapid fire method that I’ve used before since it is a bit destructive. I’ll have to just go at it one by one. The only thing that might help is that it is Hermione’s magic.” Alexa looked at him questioningly “We’re bonded” Draco explained “I have more, uh, leeway to manipulate her magic then someone else might. I’m hoping that it might make it more compatible with mine and allow me to work more quickly.”

Alexa nodded “And I was thinking about how to be able to alert you if you need to pull back. I was thinking that if you run one strand of your magic out to me, I can give it a tug if there is cause for concern. It’s not exactly elegant” she made a face “but I think it will work.” Draco let out a huff of air, he’d never given anyone control of his magic, except for Hermione. Even though this was for her it didn’t feel quite right, but what other option was there?

“Ok” he said decisively and they began to make plans for the next day.

Draco didn’t think that he could see Hermione face to face and keep the stress or guilt off his face. He felt like a complete coward but he crept into her library and left a note for her saying he was exhausted and would talk to her tomorrow. He knew it would upset her but he hoped that after tomorrow he would have something he COULD tell her. Or, at least, the anticipation would be over.

The next morning he slipped out of the room while Blaise was still snoring and walked to Alexa’s office. He wanted the time to clear his head and get prepared for what he was going to do. He knew that untying knots was exhausting, as was maintaining and occlumency connection and he was just hoping he had the strength to get through it.

Alexa found him a few hours later, he was deep in his mind’s vault re-organizing and trying to stay busy and he barely registered the tap on his shoulder. Opening his eyes and blinking he saw her looking down at him with concern. He waved a hand “Meditating” he said, it was basically true and easier to explain. She nodded and led him inside.

They were counting on the Grangers not having a full grasp of what the scans involved and how long they would usually take. Risky, since they were both dentists, but it was the best they could do. Draco was going to start working as soon as they were in the waiting room and follow them through the scan and into recovery. They had a back up plan of “complications” if he needed more time but he really didn’t want to put them through that stress unless he had to.

“Monica” was going first and Draco used one of Declaration’s disillusionment charms to be able to get close, he didn’t to use up energy maintaining that spell also. He took a deep breath and dove in. He tried his best to ignore the actual memories and just focus on the threads that were creating them. It seemed less intrusive that way, or at least he could soothe his guilty conscience with that. He worked steadily, carefully avoiding the full loop and working on just the inner knots. By the time she was settled in recovery he had gotten it down to just a few last knots and the final loop. He felt confident that he could do those relatively quickly the next time so he left them and went to work on “Wendell.”

Time ticked by and Draco ignored the cramp in his muscles and the protest of his body and brain from so much work. He thanked his lucky stars individually and by name that Hermione’s magic was compliant, allowing him to work like it was his own. “More compliant then the wielder” he smirked to himself, imagining his beautiful witch sparking with fire and opinions. Slowly, steadily, he untied knots and freed memories until, like her mother, there were just a few small knots and the final loop.

Backing out of “Wendell’s” brain he felt like he was going to pass out and barely made it to the couch before falling asleep. He didn’t notice Alexa coming in to check on him, or his magic pulsing with concern when he missed his floo call with Hermione. It was hours later when he came to, blinking and stiff. The light was still on in Alexa’s office and he stumbled into it, she met him with a smile and a sandwich and he thanked her gratefully. “I took some final scans” she said, when he looked up from the food “It looks much cleaner in there. How did it go on your end?”

“Good?” Draco asked, not feeling at all sure “It was slow going, but I got most of them undone. There will be a few more before we can lift the final spell.” Alexa nodded and looked thoughtful.

“If Hermione decides to go through with this” she said finally “I want there to be a psychiatrist on hand for when they are processing.” Draco nodded in agreement “This is going to be a big change, in many ways, and I don’t think either Hermione or her parents will be equipped to handle it alone.”

Draco dusted off his hands “I can get in touch with Dr. Lyra” he said “She’s on staff at Hogwarts and worked with us during our 8th year. I’m sure she would help.”

“Ok” Alexa said, “When you’ve talked to her, let me know, and we’ll figure out the next steps. Regardless I think we have a lot of really valuable data that has the potential to help a lot of people.”

“I just hope it helps her” Draco said simply, and Alexa gave him a sad, knowing smile.


	7. Coming Home

Draco had convinced Blaise to head home after one week, they had the information they needed and he was desperate to hold Hermione. They’d had a few stilted floo calls and he didn’t think he could take one more day away.

His portkey deposited him in the living room and he called out quietly for her, not sure if she was asleep, not even really sure what time or day it even was. “In here” her voice floated from the bedroom and he followed the sound.

Walking in he nearly dropped his suitcase. Hermione was sprawled out on the bed wearing lingerie of deep, Slytherin green. She pushed herself up and walked seductively toward him “I missed you” she said and he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her eagerly. “It’s been so long” she purred in his ear “I though maybe this would be the perfect time to take things to the next level.”

He stopped, his anatomy rejoicing at the news but his brain blaring with caution. They’d talked and agreed that they would wait until the wedding, at this point even though they knew they were going to end up together it seemed like something special they could save for that night. So, what was this? “Hermione” he said cautiously and she pouted as he backed away “Not that I don’t appreciate all of this” he gestured to her “But I thought we had agreed to wait?”

She flounced over to the bed and sat down “What” she said scathingly “You don’t want me.”

“Uh, no, that couldn’t be further from the truth” he said and gestured down to where his pants were straining against his the force of his erection. She half smiled but it still seemed all wrong and he sat down next to her. “What is it” he said, taking both her hands in his “What is really going on.”

“Maybe I just missed you” she said, but she wouldn’t meet his eyes

“And I missed you, but that still doesn’t explain the sudden shift.” Draco knew it was dangerous territory but something was really wrong here and he was going to figure out what.

“Did you miss me?” She asked sarcastically “You were awfully BUSY and TIRED during this trip.” He was caught off guard by her tone and the accusing look she threw at him. “But” she added “I guess Dr. Alexa Hernandez was probably very demanding. After all, she was sending you long letters way before you even mentioned the trip. And keeping you late on the floo at least once. The only thing I couldn’t figure out is what she had to do with the Squib community since she is a healer.”

Draco’s heart froze, she had seen all the pieces and put them together all wrong. “Shit” he said helplessly and Hermione sprang up from the bed and backed away from him

“Is it true” she asked in a whisper, her eyes filled with pain “Who is she? What was it?”

“No, Hermione” He was desperate now and advanced on her slowly “Let me explain.”

She laughed bitterly “They always say that” she announced to no one in particularly and Draco stalled, not knowing how to proceed. “You told me not to listen to Ron, but I guess he was right after all. I wouldn’t put out so you found it elsewhere.”

Part of Draco felt white hot with indignation. He had done NOTHING to deserve this. He had been faithful and loving and open about his affection and never given her cause to doubt him. But, he looked closely at Hermione, at the insecurity rolling off her in waves. This was about her, about her feeling that she wasn’t enough and the fear of that. He could get angry and be justified, but it wouldn’t solve anything.

He took a deep breath and looked straight at her. “Once upon a time” he said and she looked confused “There was a boy who loved a girl very much.” She hesitated, but didn’t back away further “But this girl had a secret heartbreak, her parents were under a terrible curse. One that no wizard or healer had been able to break.” He could see her start to tremble and he reached out a hand and guided her back to the bed “The boy knew that the girl would do anything to save her parents, but he also feared that her own heart and mind would not be able to stand up to the strain of repeated disappointment. So, the boy made a plan.”

He carefully reached into his bag and withdrew the case notes that he and Alexa had pulled together. The scans, the process, the prognosis. Without another word he handed them over to Hermione. He couldn’t meet her eyes as she read through them, just stared at his hands and hoped and hoped that she could forgive him. He watched her hands tremble as she read through pages and a single splash fall on the final predictions He continued dully “Feeling hopeful of the outcome the boy returned to the girl, knowing that he didn’t dare to proceed without her blessing. And so he laid the outcome of his quest at her feat and waited for her judgement.”

There was a long tense moment, thick and pulsing, and then Hermione sprang up and fled the room. Draco could hear the door of the library lock and feel the reverberations of her magic as she reinforced it with wards and charms. He felt bruised and battered and he stumbled over to the floo, calling Grimmauld Place he was met with Ginny’s concerned look “She needs you” he said, his voice sounding flat and emotionless “Both of you.” He left the floo open and disapparated with a crack, reappearing at his desk in Declarations.


	8. Even If

He didn’t think he’d slept, but when he woke up with his head pillowed on a pile of contracts and an unbecoming string of drool stretching from his mouth he groaned in frustration. Blaise’s door was closed and he could hear him and Theo conversing, he figured it was about him, wasn’t even mad if it was. He knocked and the door swung open, Blaise met him with a hug and steaming cup of tea. Theo eyed him thoughtfully “I can’t tell if you are a fucking hero or the biggest idiot in history” he finally said

“I don’t know which it is either” Draco admitted

**

He was a complete waste of space the entire day. He would have just gone home but he didn’t dare show up without her permission. He was too afraid to reach out to Ginny or Harry and he wasn’t sure she’d appreciate any of the others barging in. So, he just pretended to work and watched the clock.

Blaise and Theo were just pulling on their cloaks and exchanging glances about what they should do about him when Draco felt a sharp tug of his magic. He held his breath and it was followed by two more tugs. He started to cry then, which scared Blaise and Theo more then anything else that day had. But, they didn’t know, couldn’t tell that she had sent a message that she still loved him. “I have to go” he said thickly and ran through the floo.

He tripped coming out into the living room and nearly fell, but a hand caught his arm and steadied him. He looked up into Hermione’s warm eyes and began to tremble all over again. He hadn’t let himself think about what would happen if she couldn’t forgive him. She guided them to the couch and they sank down, he began to cry again and buried his head in her shoulder. She patted him and whispered that she loved him and it was going to be ok.

He looked up, feeling embarrassed, he shouldn’t be the one emotional about all of this. But, her gaze didn’t hold any judgement. She cupped his cheek and gazed at him “You are a good man Draco Malfoy” she said finally and he shook his head violently, he was anything but that, he thought, at best he was “ok but trying.” She forced him to look at her “You were right, I couldn’t have handled the build up if it had been all for nothing. And I had given up, completely.” He covered her hand with his and met her gaze “You also knew that there was a chance I couldn’t forgive you, didn’t you.” He hesitated but nodded minutely “And you did it anyway.” She said it with a tinge of wonder “Why?”

“Because, I couldn’t see you living with that pain” he said honestly “Not if there was a chance I could help.”

“Even if it meant losing me?” She asked quietly and he nodded and swallowed hard

“Even if” he echoed and dropped his eyes again.

She leaned forward and kissed him, and he kissed her back almost fiercely like he was afraid it would be the last one. “I love you" he gasped and felt relieved when she smiled into the kiss and laughed softly.

“I love you too” she answered “And I can’t wait for you to meet my parents.”


	9. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For HeartSandwich! A fluffy little epilogue.

The room was ten paces wide. Draco knew this because he had nearly worn a hole in the carpet from going back and forth in agitation. "Malfoys don't pace." Narcissa said, without bothering to look up from her book.

"Well Mother" Draco snapped back "Malfoys also don't generally meet their fiance's parents after helping lift an obliviation spell and knowing the last time they had heard of them, they were a bullying prat."

Narcissa raised an eyebrow "That's not as uncommon as you might thing" she said with a bored shrug.

There was a knock at the door and Draco sprang for it, pulling it open so quickly Hermione still had her hand raised. "Mom, Dad" she said smiling "Welcome to my home. Well, really OUR home. I'd like you to officially meet Draco Malfoy." Draco shook her father's hand firmly and bowed formally over her mother's, causing Hermione to smother a smirk behind her hand.

"Mr. and Mrs. Granger" he said "It is a pleasure to meet you. Your daughter is the love of my life and I know having her family back means everything to her." The Granger's exchanged a look that Draco couldn't quite interpret. He cleared his throat "May I present my mother, Narcissa Malfoy."

Narcissa bustled over and Draco was grateful that she was radiating warmth. "Welcome back" she said simply "I'm sure this must have been an exhausting few weeks. Please, come in and let me get you a drink." She led them to the sitting room and Draco was about to follow when he felt a hand on his arm. Turning in surprise he nearly yelped as Hermione's lips met his.

"I missed you" she breathed and he grinned at her.

"I missed you too, so much." He confessed

**

When they'd returned to Australia to fully break the spell, Draco and Dr. Lyra had stayed close. Dr. Lyra helping the Grangers and Draco supporting Hermione when she would come back to the hotel at night, exhausted. After a week things had seemed better and Draco had come home wanting to give the family time to be together. He hadn't realized how worried he'd been until she walked in the door. But now, she was relaxed and happy and whole again and he thought his heart might burst.

He offered his arm to Hermione and she took it with a smile. "Shall we?" he asked

"We shall" she quipped back "Oh and just so you know, my Dad has a million and one questions about Quidditch......"


End file.
